A Hydrothermal treatment for Synthesis of Nanoporous Mordenite Membranes

Continuous nanoporous mordenite membranes were fabricated on tubular microporous mullite supports. A hydrothermal treatment in a brass autoclave was used to prepare the zeolite membranes. The membranes and the powder crystals collected from the bottom of the autoclave were characterized with XRD and SEM. The membranes pervaporation properties were assessed using different ethanol feeds dehydration. The mordenite crystallization is entirely performed at 443 k in 24 h. The continuous top-layer of the membrane was formed by many large and oriented crystals. The polycrystalline membranes were selective for dehydration of different ethanol/water mixtures. So, the membranes have negligible intercrystalline pores.

Keywords:

Mordenite Membrane , Hydrothermal , Mullite , Ceramic Support , Pervaporation , Ethanol Dehydration